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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">The NED's Role In Undermining Democracy In Haiti</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By Travis Ross, Black Agenda Report.</div>
<div class="gmail-meta-data">
<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">October 27, 2022<br></div>
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<img src="cid:ii_l9w08ixe0" alt="image.png" width="392" height="161"><br><h2>The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is the soft power arm of the CIA.</h2>
<p><strong>Its operations in Haiti have played a large role in undermining sovereignty.</strong></p>
<p>Haiti is awash in money from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).</p>
<p>The NED had a direct role in funding opposition forces and
paramilitary forces leading up to the 2004 coup against democratically
elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It is crucial, therefore, to
explore how the NED is currently influencing Haiti by funding
“Haitian-led” organization inside the country.</p>
<p>The NED is overt regarding the grants it provides and funding it
delivers on – you can simply visit their website and search. The
organization is rarely analyzed, however, and their grantees are seldom
scrutinized.</p>
<h3>The National Endowment for Democracy</h3>
<p>The NED was founded in 1983. The NED’s co-founder, Allan Weinstein, was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1991/09/22/innocence-abroad-the-new-world-of-spyless-coups/92bb989a-de6e-4bb8-99b9-462c76b59a16/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">described by the Washington post<span><span> </span></span></a>as the “sugar daddy of overt operations”.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.ned.org/about/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">its website, the NED<span><span> </span></span></a>is
“dedicated to fostering the growth of a wide range of democratic
institutions abroad” including political parties, business
organizations, human rights organizations, and “independent” media.</p>
<p>Weinstein was more honest is describing the purpose of the NED while
speaking to the WaPo reporter: “A lot of what we do today was done
covertly 25 years ago by the CIA”, he explained.</p>
<p>In <em>Rogue State</em>, author <a href="https://williamblum.org/chapters/rogue-state/trojan-horse-the-national-endowment-for-democracy" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">William Blum points out<span><span> </span></span></a>that
while the NED was supposedly set up to “support democratic institutions
throughout the world through private, nongovernmental efforts”, the US
Congress provides nearly all its funding.</p>
<p>Blum argues that while the NED <a href="https://countercurrents.org/2022/05/the-national-endowment-for-democracy-a-second-cia/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">claims to promote democracy<span><span> </span></span></a>abroad, it actually promotes U.S. foreign policy, often at the <em>expense</em> of
democracy. The NED finances, nurtures, and supplies right-wing
political groups, civic organizations, labor unions, student groups,
book publishers, and “independent” media to further U.S. interests
abroad.</p>
<p>These NED-funded organizations seek to destabilize left-wing
governments whose policies oppose U.S. interests or, prevent left-wing
movements from successfully achieving power in the first place.</p>
<p>One cannot assume that a recipient of NED funding is somehow beholden
to, or ideologically committed to, US foreign policy. One can assume,
however, that the goals and methods of organizations and individuals the
NED funds <em>do not oppose</em> that of US foreign policy. The U.S.
government does not provide funding to individuals or organizations who
oppose U.S. interests.</p>
<h3>The NED’s History of Supporting Reactionaries in Haiti</h3>
<p>The NED funded “civil society groups” to undermine President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the years leading up to <a href="http://www.dominionpaper.ca/foreign_policy/2006/12/05/no_time_fo.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">the 2004 coup d’états<span><span> </span></span></a>that removed him and thousands of others from elected office.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h2MYoWBidc" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Aristide won an overwhelming majority<span><span> </span></span></a>of
92% of the vote in the 2000 Presidential elections. His party, Lavalas
also won 80% of the seats in the House Assembly. It was then that the
NED began funding opposition groups inside Haiti.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nykhj4oeH8" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Damming the Flood<span><span> </span></span></a>,
author Peter Hallward describes how the NED, through its subsidiary the
International Republican Institute (IRI), helped fund a destabilization
campaign against Aristide.</p>
<p>This destabilization campaign included funding “civil society groups”. One such anti-Aristide group was <a href="https://www.coha.org/the-international-republican-institute-promulgating-democracy-of-another-variety/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Democratic Convergence (CD).<span><span> </span></span></a> Founded
months after Aristide’s election victory in 2000, the NED funded this
coalition of 200 political organizations who wanted his government
overthrown. Led by former Port-au-Prince mayor Evans Paul, CD included
industrialists, bankers, importers, media, and intellectuals among their
members.</p>
<p>Many members of CD went on to become part of another US-funded anti-Lavalas organization – <a href="https://canada-haiti.ca/node/286" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">the Group of 184<span><span> </span></span></a>, headed by industrialist <a href="https://canada-haiti.ca/node/286" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Andy Apaid Jr<span><span> </span></span></a>. <a href="https://upsidedownworld.org/news-briefs/news-briefs-news-briefs/indicted-paramilitary-leader-holds-meeting-in-haiti/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Apaid funded Paramilitary gangs<span><span> </span></span></a>who
terrorized and murdered Lavalas supporters, while CD founder Stanley
Lucas openly talked about assassinating Aristide in radio interviews.</p>
<p>Among these intellectuals <a href="https://peoplesdispatch.org/2022/09/28/four-straight-years-of-nonstop-street-protest-in-haiti/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> was Ariel Henry, the current de facto Prime Minster of Haiti.<span><span> </span></span></a>Establishing early on his compliance with Washington’s imperial rule over Haiti. <a href="https://haitiliberte.com/daniel-foote-imperial-agent-courting-the-montana-accords-solicitous-petit-bourgeoisie/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Magalie Comeau Denis<span><span> </span></span></a>, one of the leaders behind the Montana group, was also associated with CD.</p>
<h3>Who is the NED Currently Funding in Haiti?</h3>
<p>There are several “local civil society groups” and “human rights organizations” directly funded by the NED in Haiti right now.</p>
<p>Haiti-based Human Rights Organizations the RNDDH (Reseau National de
Defense des Droits Humains), Defenseurs Plus, Initiative de la Société
Civile, and OCAPH (Observatoire Citoyen de l’Action des Pouvoirs Publics
et des ONGs) are <a href="https://www.ned.org/region/latin-america-and-caribbean/haiti-2021/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">all funded<span><span> </span></span></a>by the NED.</p>
<p>The RNDDH and its director, Pierre Espérance, were instrumental in
the propaganda campaign that framed Aristide as a dictator, despite
having won 92% of the popular vote in 2000. In addition, the <a href="https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/justice-denied" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">RNDDH manufactured reports<span><span> </span></span></a>that framed Lavalas <a href="https://canada-haiti.ca/content/faking-genocide-canada%E2%80%99s-role-persecution-prime-minister-yvon-neptune" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Prime-Minister Yvon Neptune<span><span> </span></span></a>as having led an <a href="https://canada-haiti.ca/content/alleged-massacre-la-scierie-interview-uns-thierry-fagart" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">alleged massacre in La Scierie,<span><span> </span></span></a>near Saint-Marc in Haiti.</p>
<p>Espérance and the RNDDH worked closely with the LaTortue dictatorship
to target and jail thousands of Lavalas supporters. Before and after
the 2004 coup, the NCHR-Haiti (the RNDDH’s former name) had an agreement
with the head prosecutor in Port-au-Prince, by which any individual
accused by Espérance and the NCHR-Haiti would be subject to prosecution.
According to <a href="https://www.coha.org/the-search-for-justice-for-haiti%E2%80%99s-yvon-neptune-and-his-fellow-inmates-all-political-prisoners/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">a Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) report<span><span> </span></span></a>,
“Countless individuals, many whose only crime was a loose affiliation
with Aristide’s Fanmi Lavalas party, were arrested by the interim
government based on false accusations entered by the NCHR-Haiti.”</p>
<p>Brian Concannon, director of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, <a href="https://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/61/NCHR.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">remarked at the time<span><span> </span></span></a>in an interview with The <em>Jurist</em> that that NCHR-Haiti was a “ferocious critic” of Aristide’s government and an “ally” of the illegal regime.</p>
<p>He explained that “the persecution became so flagrant that
NCHR-Haiti’s former parent organization, New York-based NCHR, publicly
repudiated the Haitian group and asked it to change its name. [It then]
changed its name RNDDH.”</p>
<p>Espérance and NCHR-Haiti <a href="https://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/61/NCHR.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">received funding<span><span> </span></span></a>from the USAID, the NED, the French government, and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) at the time.</p>
<p>The NED also funds several media organizations in Haiti such as <a href="https://www.ned.org/region/latin-america-and-caribbean/haiti-2021/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">AyiboPost<span><span> </span></span></a>and <a href="https://www.ned.org/fellows/abdonel-doudou/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Jurimedia<span><span> </span></span></a>. <a href="https://www.jurimedia.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Jurimedia<span><span> </span></span></a>’s executive director is Abdonel Doudou, a <a href="https://www.ned.org/fellows/abdonel-doudou/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">fellow at the NED<span><span> </span></span></a>. He is also a co-founder of the <a href="https://www.ocidhaiti.org/index.php?url=a-propos" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Citizen Observatory for the Institutionalization of Democracy (OCID<span><span> </span></span></a>), another organization <a href="https://www.ned.org/region/latin-america-and-caribbean/haiti-2021/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">funded by the NED<span><span> </span></span></a>.</p>
<p>OCID uses its NED funding to offer a <a href="https://rezonodwes.com/?p=260004" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">training program<span><span> </span></span></a>in
“the monitoring and evaluation of public policies for executives of
political parties and civil society organizations in Haiti”. According
to OCID’s website, this program also aims to “strengthen the capacities
of 500 actors from civil society and the Haitian political class” in
public policies.”</p>
<p>Furthermore, OCID aims to “mobilize the commitment of at least 30
political parties and 200 civil society organizations to advocate for
the optimization of public policies and programs, particularly in the
sectors of energy, corruption, and security.”</p>
<p>The NED also continues to fund the IRI’s programs in Haiti. The <a href="https://www.iri.org/iri-around-the-world/latin-america-and-caribbean/haiti/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">IRI’s website <span><span></span></span></a> claims they are “laying the groundwork for a new community radio program” in “target areas of the country.”</p>
<p>In short, the U.S. government is influencing organizations on
multiple fronts in Haiti. Including the Human Rights sector, the media,
political parties, and civil society.</p>
<p>But this is just the tip of the iceberg.</p>
<h3>The NED Conference: Peace and Democracy Building in Haiti</h3>
<p>In July of 2022, the <a href="https://www.demdigest.org/gangsterization-scars-haiti-amid-political-gridlock/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">NED hosted a conference<span><span> </span></span></a>where
speakers shared their opinions on the crises facing Haiti. The speakers
included Guy Serge Pompilus and Pierre-Antoine Louis of OCAPH, Carl
Alexandre, the ex-head of MINUSTAH, Fabiola Cordova, the Associate
Director for Latin America and Caribbean at the NED, and Charles
Clermont, the co-founder of <a href="https://www.kafoulespwa.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Kafou Lespwa<span><span> </span></span></a>(Crossroads of Hope).</p>
<p>Like OCAPH, Kafou Lespwa is a “partner” of the NED, according to the moderators introductory remarks.</p>
<p><a href="https://socialistproject.ca/2012/10/b718/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Fabiola Cordova<span><span> </span></span></a>had a direct role in funding numerous anti-Lavalas <a href="https://www.coha.org/the-international-republican-institute-promulgating-democracy-of-another-variety/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">opposition-affiliated groups<span><span> </span></span></a>like Group 184 and CD.</p>
<p>Carl Alexandre led the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QRXv_x2BUI" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">disastrous MINUSTAH military occupation force<span><span> </span></span></a>for the last four years of its mandate (2013 – 2016).</p>
<p>Guy Serge Pompilus, the Senior Advisor for OCAPH, introduced the organizations <a href="https://www.ocaph.net/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">“Manifesto for an Inclusive Dialogue”<span><span> </span></span></a>at
the conference. The NED describe this manifesto as the result “of their
collective efforts in devising innovative solutions for a peaceful and
democratic transition in Haiti.”</p>
<p>The <em>Manifesto</em> itself is vague and offers no concrete
strategies or solutions. It does, however, point to two “orientations”
it promotes for Haiti: Kafou Lespwa and the American <a href="https://haitiliberte.com/the-global-fragility-act-washingtons-new-tool-for-controlling-an-unruly-haiti/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Global Fragility Act.<span><span></span></span></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.kafoulespwa.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Kafou Lespwa<span><span> </span></span></a>(KL) is headed by co-founder Charles Clermont, a millionaire venture capitalist who has held <a href="https://epowerhaiti.com/about-us/board/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">high ranking posts<span><span> </span></span></a>at various financial institutions in Haiti.</p>
<p>The organizations team includes a wide array of actors from Haiti’s
political class, including members of PHTK, Lavalas, MTVayiti, & the
Montana group.</p>
<p>Two notable members are Danielle Saint-Lôt, Haitian Minister of
Commerce, Industry and Tourism under the LaTortue regime, and Clifford
Apaid, son of Andy Apaid Jr. Andy Apaid Jr. <a href="https://canada-haiti.ca/node/286" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">led the Group 184<span><span> </span></span></a>,
who armed paramilitary groups who terrorized Haiti in the lead up to
the 2004 coup against Aristide. Other prominent team members include
Fritz Alphone Jean, the Montana groups candidate for Provisional
President of Haiti, and Joel Edouard Vorbe, a member of Fanmi Lavalas’
executive committee.</p>
<p>Let’s review: The NED chose to bring together a Haitian millionaire
venture capitalist partnered with the NED, two representatives of an
NED-funded Haitian Human Rights organization that promotes US
intervention, the ex-Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations
Secretary-General for MINUSTAH, a director at the NED who organized the
funding – with U.S. tax dollars – of opposition groups who executed a
coup d’état against Aristide, and thousands of other elected
representatives.</p>
<p>The conference was organized in part to launch the <em>Manifesto</em> that
promotes the American Global Fragility Act. The representatives of
these Haitian-led organizations promoting U.S. intervention stood on the
same stage as imperial agents like Fabiola Cordova and Carl Alexandre
who have directly contributed to the destruction of Haitian democracy
and sovereignty.</p>
<p>NED-funded “Haitian-led” organizations like KL and OCAPH serve the
purpose of creating consensus among Haiti’s political class for US
government Haiti foreign policy: another American-led intervention in
Haiti.</p>
<p>This intervention will be applied under the American Global Fragility Act.</p>
<h3>Enter the Global Fragility Act</h3>
<p>The American 2019 <a href="https://haitiliberte.com/the-global-fragility-act-washingtons-new-tool-for-controlling-an-unruly-haiti/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Global Fragility Act<span><span> </span></span></a>(GFA)
outlines a “peacebuilding” strategy to “stabilize conflict-affected
areas and prevent violence and fragility”. The Biden administration
hopes the GFA will establish the United States as a “trusted partner — a
force for peace and stability in the world.” The GFA emphasizes
building relationships with “local civil society” by “strengthen[ing]
the capacity of the United States to be an effective leader of
international efforts to prevent extremism and violent conflict.” This
“capacity” also includes “planned security assistance” over periods of
ten years.</p>
<p>The GFA has full bipartisan support in the United States government,
and among virtually all of the American think-tanks who’ve written on
the Act. The Act also has the <a href="https://connect2canada.com/2020/02/partners-in-peace-and-stability-the-global-fragility-act/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">support of the Canadian government<span><span> </span></span></a>.</p>
<h3>“Partnering” with Haiti under the Global Fragility Act</h3>
<p>The Biden administration recently <a href="https://www.cfr.org/report/smarter-us-assistance-strategy-haiti" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">announced that Haiti is the first<span><span> </span></span></a>“partner” under the GFA.</p>
<p>Before this announcement, <a href="https://www.allianceforpeacebuilding.org/globalfragilityact" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">articles supporting the GFA<span><span> </span></span></a>focused on it as a vital tool for preventing “adversaries such as <a href="https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/fragility-and-failure-a-better-foreign-policy-to-counter-new-threats/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">China and Russia<span><span> </span></span></a>to expand their influence”.</p>
<p>The GFA has less to do with “preventing violence and fragility”, and more to do with keeping <a href="https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/fragility-and-failure-a-better-foreign-policy-to-counter-new-threats/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Chinese investment out<span><span> </span></span></a>of so-called fragile states. The U.S. government is open about their desire to prevent China – and Russia – from <a href="https://ca.news.yahoo.com/rpt-u-allies-cannot-allow-234847872.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">securing access to raw materials<span><span> </span></span></a>and
developing diplomatic relations and trade with nations under
Washington’s sphere of influence. Specifically, Latin America, the
Caribbean, and Africa.</p>
<p>The push to implement the GFA is the U.S. government’s attempt to
develop bilateral relations with so-called fragile states to gain access
to key raw materials and <a href="https://ca.news.yahoo.com/rpt-u-allies-cannot-allow-234847872.html?guccounter=1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">prevent China<span><span> </span></span></a>from gaining “unwanted political leverage.” The Biden administration wants to ensure that the U.S. <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/04/01/letter-from-the-president-on-the-implementation-of-the-global-fragility-act/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">maintains “geopolitical leverage”<span><span> </span></span></a>in its sphere of influence, including Haiti, which has been reduced to neo-colony status since the 2004 coup.</p>
<p>Haiti is now caught in the US government’s Cold War with China.</p>
<p>The intent of the prolonged, brutal depravation and cruelty the U.S.
has imposed on Haiti since Jovenel Moise’s assassination is to create
the necessary conditions for a U.S. intervention under the GFA. This
10-year intervention will prevent Chinese trade and investment from
entering Haiti, while also blocking historical allies like Venezuela and
Cuba from offering aid and support.</p>
<p>The NED’s role in funding these various “Haitian-led civil society
groups” and “human rights organizations” is to manufacture a consensus
among the political class to accept the GFA, which will lead to a
ten-year plan including “security assistance” as defined under the GFA.
This security assistance will be managed by the Department of Defense
under the supervision of the U.S. State Department and USAID.</p>
<p>In other words, an occupation of Haiti.</p>
<p>The terms “Haitian led” and “local civil society groups” are emphasized by the various <a href="https://www.usip.org/blog/2022/10/ask-experts-what-drives-haitis-fragility" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">American government-funded think-tanks<span><span> </span></span></a>who promote the GFA.</p>
<p>NED-funded organizations such as Initiative de la Société Civile, and OCAPH have already <a href="https://www.ned.org/events/peace-and-democracy-building-in-haiti-a-civil-society-perspective/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">endorsed the GFA<span><span> </span></span></a>.
As momentum builds, more US-funded “civil society” groups in Haiti are
likely to endorse the GFA as part of a “Haitian-led” solution to the
crisis in Haiti.</p>
<h3>Creating Consensus for a Future “Partnership” with the United States</h3>
<p>In early October 2022, Ariel Henry requested military assistance from
the US, UN, and CORE group governments to supress the citizen revolt
against his unelected government.</p>
<p>The Montana group leaders responded, describing “his request as an
act of treason” and said that” foreign troops would only make things
worse” <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-reviewing-haitis-request-international-security-assistance-2022-10-08/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">according to a Reuters report.<span><span> </span></span></a>After
meeting with Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols when he and his
delegation visited Haiti, Ted Saint-Dic called for the resignation of
PM Ariel Henry. Saint-Dic is a spokesperson for Montana, in addition to
being one of the coalitions leaders.</p>
<p>“History teaches us that no foreign force has ever solved the
problems of any people on earth,” the Montana group leaders said in a
statement, adding that Haiti instead needs support for its police force.
“It is our Haitian police force that will have the ability to once and
for all solve the insecurity problems that Haitians are experiencing.”</p>
<p>Montana leaders clearly do not want a military occupation force
inside Haiti under Henry’s rule. The leaders were happy, however, to
take part in a photo op after meeting with Nichols. <a href="https://twitter.com/WHAAsstSecty/status/1580309083672154112" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Pictures of Nichols, Comeau, and Saint-Dic smiling and shaking<span><span> </span></span></a>hands were shared on Twitter after their meeting. Blinken urged them to “urgently develop consensus on an accord”.</p>
<p>The Montana leaderships statement may seem at odds with a recent <a href="https://www.justsecurity.org/82968/as-haitis-henry-refuses-checks-on-power-the-us-should-aid-efforts-to-build-true-democracy/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">article by Saint-Dic for Just Security<span><span> </span></span></a>.
In the article, Ted Saint-Dic argues that the “U.S. officials should do
everything in their power to seize this fragile opportunity to support
and create space for Haitians engaged in an extraordinary effort to
rebuild democracy.”</p>
<p>While not referring to the GFA directly, Saint-Dic says the U.S. has a
“powerful and important role in helping get democracy back on track in
Haiti”.</p>
<p>Saint-Dic goes further, however, seemingly requesting a military
intervention on behalf of the Montana group. He states later in the
article that the “United States should use creative and aggressive
tactics to intercept criminal activity in Haiti.”</p>
<p>One can surmise that from the perspective of Montana leadership, the
problem isn’t U.S. and CORE group interference in Haiti’s affairs. The
problem is that it is happening under Henry.</p>
<p>The “powerful and important role” the U.S. government has, in
Saint-Dic’s view, is to “get democracy on track in Haiti” by recognizing
the Montana groups chosen interim President Fritz Alphonse Jean and
interim Prime-Minster Steven Benoit. Saint-Dic’s invitation to the
United States to “use creative and aggressive tactics to intercept
criminal activity in Haiti” is a clear sign to the Biden administration
that if they recognize Montana’s interim leaders, they would allow for
some sort of “planned security assistance”.</p>
<h3>Montana and the GFA</h3>
<p>Henry is becoming increasingly unviable as a representative for the U.S. and CORE group in Haiti.</p>
<p>The various crises imposed on Haitians by the Washington and their
CORE group allies over the past year have weakened the Montana
coalition. This was likely the intent of the U.S. government’s support
of Henry. The worsening situation in Haiti has also been used as a
justification by Henry for requesting a military intervention.</p>
<p>The leaders behind Montana, however, have done nothing to mobilize
support for Montana and force Henry from office since the Accord was
first published.</p>
<p>Instead, Montana’s leaders have looked to Washington for legitimacy
and support. Meanwhile, the public support Montana once enjoyed is
crumbling.</p>
<p>In January 2022, Fanmi Lavalas <a href="https://canada-haiti.ca/content/fanmi-lavalas-closes-door-montana-accord" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">withdrew its support<span><span> </span></span></a>from the leadership behind the Montana coalition. FL’s leadership <a href="https://canada-haiti.ca/content/fanmi-lavalas-closes-door-montana-accord" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">stated<span><span> </span></span></a>its
concerns that Montana leadership were “continuing with the election
calendar without waiting to reach a broader and more solid consensus of
civil society”.</p>
<p>In May 2022, <a href="https://haitiliberte.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-fighting-dictatorship-and-neocolonialism/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">MOLEGHAF<span><span> </span></span></a>, a Communist party, also <a href="https://haitiliberte.com/montana-accord-coalition-fracturing-as-its-leader-resumes-talks-with-pm-henry/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">withdrew support<span><span> </span></span></a>. <a href="https://haitiliberte.com/moleghafs-oxygene-david-on-the-shooting-of-domini-resain-the-montana-accord-and-the-current-political-situation/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">In a recent interview<span><span> </span></span></a>,
MOLEGHAF’s leader David Oxygène said that “after MOLEGHAF left the
Montana coalition, the union CNOH (National Confederation of Haitian
Workers) left, and many popular organizations no longer recognize the
Montana Accord”.</p>
<p>Oxygène argues that Magalie Comeau Denis, and other leaders in the
Montana coalition have been more interested in “holding meetings at the
U.S. Embassy and even in the United States, so they could crush the
popular movement.”</p>
<p>A weakened, compliant Montana coalition meets the criteria as a
“Haitian-led civil society group” as defined in the GFA. If Montana
leadership accepts a ten-year plan of U.S. “planned security assistance”
on behalf of Haitians, this outcome is virtually guaranteed.</p>
<h3>Montana and the GFA are Connected</h3>
<p>Many of Montana’s leaders have already displayed a compliance for Washington’s dictates. This past compliance makes them <a href="https://haitiliberte.com/is-washington-preparing-to-change-horses-in-haiti/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">ideal candidates as subordinates<span><span> </span></span></a>for Washington’s continued imperial domination of Haiti once Henry outlives his usefulness and is removed from power.</p>
<p>The NED-funded organizations in Haiti are creating a consensus among
sectors of Haiti’s political class. This apparent consensus will be
sufficient to convince foreign leaders – some of whom may be sympathetic
to the plight of everyday Haitians – that Haitians truly want
assistance under the GFA. The addition of support from “Human Rights”
organizations like the RNDDH, OCAPH, the Bureau des Droits Humains en
Haiti, and Defenseurs Plus will further cement this illusion of
consensus.</p>
<p>The U.S. government does not fund organizations whose interests
oppose their foreign policy goals. And one of the U.S. governments
primary current foreign policy goals in Haiti is to form a partnership
under the Global Fragility Act.</p>
<p>Those who advocate for Haiti ought to recognize that organization in
and outside Haiti who receive funding from the U.S. government via the
NED or other imperialist organizations must be viewed as captured. Their
interests either correspond with, or do not challenge U.S. interests.</p>
<p>With this in mind, we discover that very little has changed among
Haiti’s small middle and intellectual class since Aristide’s time in
power. Or the methods organizations like the NED implement to capture
sectors of Haiti’s middle and intellectual classes.</p>
<p>In a 2008 article, <a href="https://upsidedownworld.org/news-briefs/news-briefs-news-briefs/haitis-new-pm-and-the-power-of-ngos/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Nik Barry-Shaw described the consequences<span><span> </span></span></a>western-backed NGOs had on Haiti’s middle and intellectual class in Haiti leading up to the 2004 coup against Aristide:</p>
<p>“The tremendous resources disposed of by these organization cannot
but have a massive impact on the political scene, operating as
they are amidst such extreme deprivation. If you want to get your daily
bread, why bother building a powerful socio-political movement to press
your demands on an impotent state?</p>
<p>The waning desire for transformative social change competed with
other, more particularistic interests for the heart of the middle class.
As Robert Fatton Jr. explains: “In a country where destitution is the
norm and private avenues to wealth are rare, politics becomes an
entrepreneurial vocation, virtually the sole means of material and
social advancement for those not born into wealth and prestige.”
Ironically, the political representatives of the middle class ultimately
did the most to advance the neoliberal compromises forced on Aristide.</p>
<p>These sectors subsequently turned to … generous funders of “civil society” from the North.”</p>
<p>We must also scrutinize the claims of the middle and intellectual
class who receive funds from the NED and other Foundations based in the
United States and other CORE group countries. We must also be prepared
to reconsider the narratives that the leaders and representatives of
these NED-funded institutions present regarding marginalized or
villainized individuals or organizations inside Haiti.</p>
<p>We must interrogate these NED-funded institutions and their various
reports, Manifesto, and plans for Haiti because they in some way serve
the interests of U.S. imperialist policies in Haiti.</p>
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